Last night I had the great pleasure to participate to the opening party of a new French Restaurant, Bistro FERME in Shizuoka City, led by one of the most promising young Chefs in Shizuoka Prefecture, namely Hiromitsu Ogasawara/小笠原光洋さん!

Located in the center of Shizuoka City, in Gofuku Cho, you can enter it either through an entrance beside an ubiquitous big chain “coffee shop”,

or through a more discreet door at the back opening onto a street paralell to Gofuku-Cho Street!

In a totally non-smoking atmosphere you can either sit at a wide counter facing the kitchen to enjoy the spectacle of great morsels being prepared in front of your eyes or at large table sitting about 10 guests.
The whole place can sit around 30 visitors, making it prefect for a private party!

Guests looking for a cozy corner can sit at small tables facing a sofa for your special company!

The concept is that of a fixed menu for lunch (2,000 yen + TAX) and dinner (4,400 yen + TAX) with ingredients changing constantly. very reasonable when you consider the quality!
An A la Carte menu will be available in the evening!

Hiromitsu San mainly uses local ingredients obtained directly from many of his contacts among Shizuoka farmers and producers, thus insuring the best freshness and quality!
Let me show what you can expect from April 10th when Bistro FERME will be open to the public!

AOI BEER STAND owned by Aoi Brewery in Miyuki Cho, Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City, has the merit to offer on tap other craft beers from Shizuoka Prefecture and the rest of Japan, but you do have to hurry as they usually served only one keg before switching to another brew!

This time I tasted a craft beer which has been elected last year as the best Smoke beer in the World!
Rauch by Fujizakura Kogen Brewery in Yamanashi Prefecture!

A very interesting and reasonable way to taste sake is to acquire one-cup sake!
They also make for cute collection of glasses or cups!

As Matsuzakaya Department Store in Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, has quite a few of them (10 breweries for 11 brands so far), I decided to start with them.
After that I will have to chase the other ones around! LOL
This is the first batch of 5!

I started with Eikun Brewery in Yui, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City: Eikun Flower Cup Futsushu!
Great cup to keep in store!

Alcohol: 15~16 degrees

Clarity: very clear
Color: almost transparent
Aroma: assertive, dry and fruity. Rice, faint chocolate, banana, and coffee beans.
Body: fluid
Taste: very dry and fruity attack with a little acidity at first.
Complex. Pears, apples at first
Lingers only for a while before departing on an even drier note with hints of oranges.
The fruit stays for a while on the palate.
Coffee beans and dark chocolate also tend to make an insistent comeback with every sip.
Varies little with food but for a mellower impressions and more coffee beans and dark chocolate!

Overall: for dry sake lovers!
Far more elegant than its humble futsushu/normal sake would indicate although its relative acidity might surprise some.
Would happily marry with heavy izakaya fare.
A great idea would be to bring a few cups at a BBQ!

Scabbard Fish(also called Cutlass Fish) or “Tachiuo” is a summer fish very popular in Japan in spite of its great length.
Tachiuo in Japanese, 太刀魚, means “Great Sword Fish”, not the scabbard!
The Suruga Bay being warmer than the rest of Japan, we have scabbard fish in the dead of winter.
Like other fish it owns other names: Tachi (not in Hokkaido, where the word means ” Cod sperm sacs”!), Shirada and Tachinouo.
It is mainly caught off Wakayama, Ehime and Oita Prefectures.
In Shizuoka it is both caught by line or net.
In 1999, 37,000 tonnes were caught in the whole of Japan, but it fell to 23,000 tonnes in 2000.
It is also imported from Korea and China, although the fish is slightly different from the Japanese variety. More than half of imported fish are eaten west of Kansai.

Scabbard Fish Sashimi Plate

Tachiuo is both popular raw and cooked.
Raw, it is usually served with ponzu instead of soy suce and topped with momijioroshi/grated daikon mixed with chili pepper.

Raw, it is of course popular as sushi nigiri,

cut into fine strips and served as gunkan.

As sashimi I personally prefer it “aburi” (slightly grilled) with a dash of ponzu and some momijioroshi (grated daikon with chili pepper), or with some finely cut vegetables.

The same applies for sushi nigiri as I like my scabbard fish a little grilled first.

Making incisions into the fish before grilling it will make for another presentation!

It does not have to be complicated to be yummy!

In the Kansai/western Japan region it is very popular in oshizushi/pressed sushi thanks to its flat and long shape.

How about a combination of both raw and aburi style sushi nigiri?

How about an Italian-style sushi nigiri?

As for the cooked scabbard fish, grilling is the most common way here in Japan where it is served as simple and healthy food at many meals.

Sauteed with colurful vegetables (okra) make for great presentation in spite of the simplicity of the dish!

Deep-frying is also very popular especially with its bones when it is very fresh. Such deep-fried bones make for one vital source of calcium for the Japanese.

Fried scabbard fish salad.

Cooked, it is a very versatile fish and easy to prepare!

Grilled with lemon!

Cooked with chili peppers and miso paste, it makes for an intriguing sweet and hot combination!

AOI BEER STAND owned by Aoi Brewery in Miyuki Cho, Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City, has the merit to offer on tap other craft beers from Shizuoka Prefecture and the rest of Japan, but you do have to hurry as they usually served only one keg before switching to another brew!

This time I tasted a craft beer by Ise Kadoya brewery in Mie Prefecture: Brown Ale!

Served on tap
Barley, malt, hop, live yeast.
Unfiltered
Alcohol/ABV: 5 %
Bubbles: very fine bubbles. Long head. Creamy. Light brown color
Clarity: slightly smoky (normal considering live yeast and being unfiltered), very clean
Color: very dark brown
Aroma: light and fruity. Bread. Hints of oranges
Taste: very deep and refreshing attack. Plenty of acidity.
Dry caramel, hops.
Lingers long enough in mouth for true tasting before departing on an even drier note wwith more caramel and faint hints of citruses.
Stays true to first impressions all the way through.
Varies little with food but for a slghtly mellower attack.

Overall: very satisfying American Brown Ale type craft beer.
A beer for all seasons.
Definitely for acid beer lovers, gentlemen in particular!
Would splendidly pair with meats and BBQ’s!